Baghdad, The newspapers issued today, Tuesday, paid attention to the water file, and Prime Minister's directive, to urgent update the integrated national energy strategy. Al-Zawraa newspaper, which is published by the Iraqi Journalists Syndicate, focused on the water file and quoted the Director General of Dams at the Ministry of Water Resources, Ali Radhi, as saying: 'Iraq wants to guarantee a fair share of water from upstream countries." pointing out that "there is a permanent committee between Iraq and Turkey regarding the water file. He added: We had a visit to Ankara and held meetings there, and there were also many delegations from the Turkish side that came to Iraq and held meetings, where these discussions are ongoing to reach fruitful cooperation on the water issue. He pointed out: This flexibility and positivity in the water file is very important to ensure access to fair water shares. He pointed to: the government support and an insightful and clear vision for the water issue was not only achiev ed in this agreement, but was achieved previously in the water relationship between Iraq and Iran, for example. He continued: The water releases that were achieved, for example, in Karun River, and the releases that enhanced the water storage in Darbandikhan Dam or Diyala Dam, did not come out of nowhere, but rather from good relations, dialogues, and joint visits. As a result, the releases achieved in Shatt al-Arab through Karun River led to reduce salinity levels to very large extents. He went on to say: Now we have reached very high storage rates in Mosul Dam that we only reached in 2019, when that year was plentiful, and the same situation is in Darbandikhan Dam and Dokan Dam. Now we have reached the same storage level that was in 2019. This will certainly reflect positively on the upcoming summer season, especially the summer agricultural plan. He stated: We have reached record storage levels in Mosul Dam, the first since 2019. He noted: Agricultural plans for the summer or winter season are usually de veloped through some high-level joint committees. The Ministry of Water Resources and the Ministry of Agriculture take responsibility for the water storage data and the nature of this water year represents the basis for approving plans. He continued: We have not yet clarified the extent of the agricultural plan for the coming season through the committee that will be held later. Pointing out: Today, when water storage has improved greatly, it must be developed with thoughtful plans, and made the best use of it. He explained: With the availability of storage, we are thinking about improving irrigation efficiency, using modern technologies, working on lining canals, and thinking about creating water harvesting dams and also exploiting groundwater. Al-Sabah newspaper focused on the directive of Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani, yesterday, Monday, to urgently update the integrated national energy strategy, in order to ensure the sustainability of financing energy projects to prevent their delay or cessat ion. A statement from his office said, 'The Prime Minister chaired a meeting devoted to discussing the plans of the Ministry of Electricity and the National Energy Strategy file, in the presence of the Ministers of Electricity and Oil. The meeting witnessed a discussion of resolving the pipelines transporting gas produced from gas stations, since within six months gas will be produced in West Qurna.' Added 'This requires work on introducing this transmission pipeline into the national gas transmission network, in addition to reviewing the electricity collection file, and following up on the implementation of the directives issued by previous meetings in this regard.' Al-Sudani also directed, according to the statement, 'the formation of a specialized team from the ministries of planning, electricity, oil, and finance, and the body of advisors, to undertake an urgent update of the integrated national energy strategy, on the basis of reviewing the energy file and what Iraq needs at the level of productive ene rgy and fuel energy, and at the same time ensuring the sustainability of financing energy projects to prevent their delay or cessation.' The statement stressed, 'It is necessary to take into account, in updating the strategy, the integration of energy projects with each other, such that gas security sources are available to operate gas electricity stations once they are completed, gas transportation pipelines are available once its production from oil fields is completed, and electrical stations are available that benefit from it.' The Prime Minister stressed 'the importance of the strategy taking into account the path that the state is supposed to take to reduce the burdens of the energy file on state funds,' directing 'the need for the specialized team to submit its report updating the strategy after consultation with the relevant ministries and with the consultant to the Ministry of Planning, Inc. KBR. Source: National Iraqi News Agency